Bed
Lucy Kissel
Oil on Canvas, 2008

This issue inaugurates a new section of Literary Laundry, critical reflections. Peering into the minds of others not only offers the usual pleasure of the voyeur. It also clarifies our own thoughts and helps illuminate the dusky vales of literary production. We live in a Switzerland of the federated cantons of literature, to paraphrase Eliot Weinberger, in which each of us can dwell our entire lifetime without troubling to see what our neighbors are up to. It is a joy to hear the reports of travelers who have visited alien lands, however, even if we are not personally inclined to make the journey. And sometimes a tale may be so incredible that we, fired by wanderlust, ourselves venture into the unknown.

The following pieces attempt to explain some corner of the literary universe. Kelly Swopeʼs “The Idea of the New” explores the question of artistic novelty (and the aspirations of Literary Laundry) through a precise commentary on some passages from Borges.

In “Truth Takes a Holiday” Greg Rubinson considers a recent subject of fiction: the theme-park as hyper-reality; this is a genre at which he successfully tried his hand with “Camp Holocaust,” published in the last issue of Literary Laundry.

But there is no need for us to heap scholia upon scholia. We hope you enjoy these essays.